Are you a baby boomer? Statisticians consider anyone born between 1946 and 1964 to be a full-fledged baby boomer.
The oldest are 62 and just old enough to start collecting Social Security and qualifying for a reverse mortgage.
But for this group of Americans, retirement looks a whole lot different, according to Gene Warren, president and chief executive of Thomas, Warren and Associates. Warren, an economist who specializes in the study of retirement, helps developers and communities figure out how they're going to attract future retirees.
By 2029, those baby boomers born in 1964 will turn 65, notes Warren. But this group of individuals looks at retirement in a different way. For example, baby boomers are much more likely to move when they retire than their parents were. At this week's annual meeting of the National Association of Real Estate Editors in Dallas, Warren said that typically just 10 percent of retirees relocate. He expects 20 percent of boomers to relocate, or approximately 18.2 million individuals.
Another difference: Baby boomers are activity-driven, he notes, unlike their parents, who are from what he calls the "silent generation."
"Boomers are much more active than their parents were," he says. "They are amenity-migrants, not sun-migrants. They're not necessarily going to buy a house on a beach but will look at all the amenities in the area."
Deborah Blake, a vice president of Pulte Homes, who works extensively with the Del Webb-branded senior communities, says that today's seniors are looking for "a purposeful life."
"They're not looking to play golf for 10 years. They're asking themselves, 'What's next?'" Blake says.
Del Webb has found that seniors living in its Sun Cities developments (the average age of a Del Webb buyer is 62) are fans of lifelong learning, social networking and active volunteering.
"We provide classes on Internet safety at many of our communities," Blake explains.
Del Webb has begun shifting the designs of its houses to meet the needs of boomer seniors, including building larger kitchens to accommodate computer technology and creating spare bedrooms that can function as craft studios.
Blake says that looking for a purposeful life has turned seniors on to the idea of leaving a legacy. For them, volunteering "doesn't mean holding someone's hand in a hospital." Instead, Del Webb residents are writing business plans for local nonprofits and working with communities to stimulate growth.
